


You're the one from the newspaper

by PinkPunk010



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Genre: Bunty meets the team, F/M, Newt's magical creatures - Freeform, post Crimes of Grindelwald
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-17
Updated: 2018-11-17
Packaged: 2019-08-25 00:54:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16651183
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PinkPunk010/pseuds/PinkPunk010
Summary: After visiting Hogwarts, Newt takes Tina and Jacob back to his London house. Bunty is there, looking after the creatures.This is Tina meeting Bunty and vice versa.*Post CoG*





	You're the one from the newspaper

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this almost straight away - but I didn't have internet. I loved the film! I also thought Bunty's little crush was adorable, and I wondered how she'd react to meeting Tina... voila. This was meant to be a short thing and ended up taking on a life of it's own ...

She was surprised, when Newt stopped on the street and indicated that Tina should follow Jacob up the stairs to a nondescript terraced house on a nondescript no-maj street. It was incongruous with the Newt she thought she knew. Newt belonged in his suitcase, and it had never really occurred to her that he had a house with rooms and a front door. 

“Oh,” She said faintly, smiling tightly as she passed through the door, Theseus already hanging his coat up on a rack and throwing himself into making tea with a clatter. “Your house is er-”

She forced herself to finish with “lovely” but it sounded false to her own ears. Newt’s ears turned pink, even as he busied himself hanging their coats side by side. 

“Is it alright is I er… go to bed?” Jacob pointed a thumb towards the stairs up, still looking a little shellshocked, a little lost. 

“Of course,” Newt said promptly, waving his wand at the ceiling. “First door on the right.”

There was a brief pause, and then suddenly there was a redheaded woman standing in Newt’s kitchen with a hand on a door-wall, and Tina’s wand was in her hand pointing directly at this stranger in overalls, and this stranger was pointing her wand directly back. 

“Bunty,” Newt greeted in surprise, “What are you doing here?”

There was a beat, before Theseus rolled his eyes and returned to his teamaking. This “Bunty’s” wand arm faltered slightly, as she saw Newt standing beside Tina, but Tina remained on guard, a little wary of the way Bunty was looking at Newt rolling his sleeves up beside her. But Newt’s attention was on Tina. 

“Miss Goldstein, this is my assistant, Bunty,” Newt introduced hastily, lifting his case onto the table. “I left her looking after the creatures while I came to Paris.”

“I thought you were joking about Paris!” The other woman exclaimed, her wand falling to her side as she moved quickly to Newt’s side. Tina holstered her own wand, shuffling back to stand by Jacob, unsure of her place in the kitchen, and not sure how to take “You told me your visa was denied again!” 

“Five times,” Theseus muttered, stirring the tea with a little more aplomb than was strictly necessary. He glanced at his shoulder as he said so, and Tina had the peculiar feeling that he was trying to look at her. 

Newt shrugged, or as much as he could shrug with his head in the suitcase. Bunty was looking at him with what could only be described as affection. Tina felt her stomach turn, even as her heart chanted that she was a middle-head, that she had no reason to mistrust Newt on his assistant. Still, it had been a hard few days, and this wasn’t going to make it any easier. 

Some of her thoughts must have shown on her face, as Jacob patted her hand. For him to notice anything beyond Queenie’s glaring absence was galling. She smiled at him and patted his hand awkwardly back. They were both reeling from Queenie… and from Leta. Despite all the upset and the miscommunication, Leta had been kind to her while they were in the case after escaping the French ministry, Newt on the back of a mythical cat, and Tina having to greet an enthusiastic niffler. 

“What happened? Are you alright?” Bunty’s hand was hovering above Newt’s shoulder and ignoring everyone else. Tina’s stomach swooped. 

Newt stood up suddenly, his hands grasping thin air where the niffler had clearly been. Tina shook her head in amusement and knelt down to scoop the creature up from where it had stopped at her feet. Bunty looked at the niffler, and then up to Tina’s face, her expression unreadable and making Tina feel distinctly unimpressed. Newt however, was smiling his happy little half smile and turning back to close the case. 

“Here,” Bunty moved forward to take the niffler from Tina. The niffler squirmed and gripped Tina’s fingers. “Let me take him for you.”

“He’s ok,” Tina insisted, a little defensively, the niffler looking up at Bunty in what could only be described as defiance. “He’s had a rough few days, I think he just wants a cuddle.”

Newt was smiling at her a little dopily, Theseus was uncapping a bottle of firewhisky and Bunty looked a little unsettled. She nodded firmly and turned back to Newt. 

“Any injuries I should know about?” She said lightly, hugging a stained napkin to her chest. 

Newt shook his head, replying with a sheepish “Tina’s already patched me up.”

It was as if the temperature in the room dropped several degrees as Bunty glanced back over to Tina. She smiled awkwardly. There hadn’t been anything to patch up. They’d been covered in soot and shellshocked, but they hadn’t been injured. Bunty didn’t seem amused. Newt had already moved onto his primary waking thought. 

“How have the creatures been?” He asked, moving towards the door, suitcase in hand and his focus already down the stairs to the basement Tina could see. He turned back to Tina, smiling at her even as Bunty hurried to follow him down. 

Jacob and Theseus waved her on, clinking generous glasses of whisky together. She left them to their wallow, determined to push through the hot knot in her stomach until she was alone to cry in peace. She turned the corner of the stairs and was greeted with a warren of stairs leading away and down. There was noise and the smell of warmth and sawdust and dirt – a little chaotic and far away from people. 

“It’s perfect,” She breathed in relief. This made sense, this was how she’d pictured Newt in London, his creatures sprawling around him. Newt beamed up at her from further down the stairs. “Hey, where’s Dougal? I need to say hi.”

“Oh,” Bunty turned from her (close) position behind Newt as he checked on the creatures in the small compounds at the bottom of the stairs. Tina looked around in awe as her feet hit the bottom. She moved to sit down at Newt’s desk, exhausted from the events of the previous few days and just trying to enjoy the peaceful chaos she’d come to associate with Newt’s case. “That’s mister Scamander’s desk,” Bunty said in the polite way which stated ‘you need to move’. 

“Tina’s ok,” Newt said absently, tilting a mooncalfs head back to look at its eyes. “Dougal is up the left stairs and to the right. He’s been a bit moody lately, so I had to give him his own room. Don’t take it personally if he isn’t pleased to see you.”

“Teenagers,” Tina rolled her eyes good humouredly, adjusting the niffler on her chest. He crooned and curled up into her neck a little more. “Paws off my necklace you,” She warned him, watching with amusement as little paws closed around the chain of her pendant. The paw retracted reluctantly. Tina looked up to Bunty staring at the niffler again, surprise on her face. 

“Have you given Jenny her-” Newt started, already looking towards the next creature.

“Yes,” Bunty said promptly, “And I’ve prepared the salve for the kelpie, and I was just going to check the bowtruckle tree-”

“Thank you, Bunty,” Newt smiled at her politely, “I can do that. You can give me a proper run down of what’s happened while we were away tomorrow. It’s late, why don’t you head home. Tina and I can do the evening feeds.”

“Oh, no, I can stay a little longer,” Bunty began protesting immediately, but Newt was quietly insistent. Eventually, Bunty seemed to give in. She turned to Tina and held out a hand, “It was lovely to meet you Miss Goldstein,” She said properly, but it seemed a little like the question she was really asking was- will you still be here tomorrow?

“Nice to meet you Bunty,” Tina shook the hand and smiled politely, “See you in the morning.”

Bunty looked as if she wanted to say something else, but she smiled tightly and bid a much warmer farewell to Newt before bustling out.

Tina waited until she heard Jacob calling out that Bunty had left before she turned to Newt with a soft smile and a raised eyebrow. He looked confused, hands busy checking the tail feathers of some peculiar looking bird. 

“What?” He asked curiously, leaning over to scratch the nifflers head. He glanced over to a corner before looking back at Tina. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Nothing,” She smiled at him, and glanced down to the niffler, practically asleep. “Come on, let’s put him to bed, I’ll go say hi to Dougal, and then we can feed the creatures, and all go and sleep off this awful week. Sound good?”

“Sounds perfect,” He said softly, eyes fixed on hers and she felt her cheeks warming, and she couldn’t look away either, until the niffler shifted and Newt sprang into action, showing Tina where to stash him and what feeding needed to be done. 

Her sleep that night was full of hot guilty tears over her sister, and she woke before the dawn, her eyes raw and desperate for the tranquillity she’d found in the basement the evening prior. Newt had given her a fresh shirt (pink faced, and not meeting her eyes) when he had given her fresh towels and she tucked it into her magically cleaned trousers as she padded down the stairs. 

There was a box of coffee waiting on the side for her, a small box of the brand she had in New York the year prior when Newt had come to stay. She smiled softly, tapping the box with her wand and a stream of perfectly brewed tea swirling into a mug. The sun was barely turning the sky pink and blue across the horizon. Coffee in hand, Tina nudged open the door to the basement and made sure it was shut firmly behind her before climbing down the stairs. She found the baby nifflers awake and amused herself (and them) with silver chains and shiny coins transfigured from stones on the floor. 

“Oh,” A voice startled Tina from her game with the niffler babies and she had to catch one to top them from making a break for it. She quickly locked the cage back up and brushed off her knees to greet Bunty. “Miss Goldstein, I wasn’t expecting to see you quite so early…Is Mister Scamander up?”

“He wasn’t when I got up,” Tina offered, lifting her empty mug to a shelf. “But I can’t be sure he isn’t up already. How can I help you?”

“Oh, I couldn’t possibly ask a guest to help,” Bunty looked a bit flustered as she shed her outwear and pulled on overalls, eyes lingering on the worn collar of Tina’s shirt. Tina had a suspicion that Bunty recognised it as Newt’s, for the other woman flushed and busied herself with buckets and different feeds swirling together through the air, a snowstorm of oats and grubs. 

“Oh,” Tina shrugged awkwardly, wondering why the basement didn’t feel quite so tranquil now Bunty was there, “I don’t feel like a guest in the case – Newt always gave me things to do and… well… I could do with the distraction…”

Tina’s eyes dropped down to the nifflers again, rolling about and wrestling each other for the trinkets they had available. Her fingers worried the cuff of Newt’s shirt and she felt like the last thing she wanted was to look at Bunty. 

“Well…” Bunty said slowly, “I need to feed the grindylows this morning, the feeding can be a bit tricky…”

“Thank you,” Tina said quietly, already pulling the feed out from under the table. “Where’s Newt hidden them here?”

Bunty had her lips pressed into a tight smile, but indicated for Tina to head down a corridor, keeping up a steady stream of chatter about the position of the creatures in the basement menagerie. 

“Mr Scamander likes to keep them in their own area, unless they require direct attention then he brings them to the centre,” Bunty chatted, “I come in to help every day. Mr Scamander has been incredibly busy with the ministry and his book recently.”

“Yeah,” Tina said quietly, thinking of the lack of letters and the article in Spellbound, and the sting of thinking he’d moved on or backwards or whatever. Bunty looked at her sideways but didn’t say anything. 

She hadn’t thought it would be peaceful, feeding grindylows with the assistant of the man she was in love with, but there was something about Bunty that made it clear why Newt had hired her. She was a little overly flustered, but she seemed to have a good heart. 

“Morning Tina, morning Bunty,” Newt called out when they arrived back to the centre, Jacob sat playing with the baby nifflers. They seemed to be an excellent source of distraction for a tortured mind. 

“You look like you slept as well as I did,” Tina said to Jacob wryly, a sympathetic hand to his shoulder. Newt appeared at her side, cup of coffee in hand. 

“I noticed you’d drunk yours, so I made you some more. I think it’s how you like it but I’ve only ever drunk coffee while I’m with you so I’m not the best judge,” Newt said quickly, handing Tina a mug. She smiled at him, feeling all warm inside and liking the flush on his cheeks when she thanked him. 

She’d forgotten, while he had been gone, how easy it was to get caught up in his eyes and find it nearly impossible to look away. She ducked her head, tucked her hair behind her ear. 

Jacob chuckled. Tina had forgotten then weren’t alone on the docks, and by the startled way Newt shuffled back, he’d forgotten too. 

“Bunty’s gone to check on the hippogriffs,” Jacob said unhelpfully, standing up, “I er – I think I’d better go check on Theseus… yeah… you two be good now.”

And then Jacob was jogging up the stairs chuckling and Tina was flushed red. Poor Bunty. 

“I wonder why Bunty’s gone to check on the hippogriffs,” Newt frowned, “They’re fairly independent and I checked them a few days ago.”

“Is their pasture far?” Tina asked. 

“Yes, it’s one of the further ones, hippogriffs don’t really mix well with other magical creatures,” Newt slipped past her to clip the niffler babies back into their cage. 

“Well, she’s probably gone so you can’t see her then,” Tina shrugged awkwardly, leaning against the edge of Newt’s desk and trying not to disturb the paperwork and sleeping Pickett. Pickett stirred sleepily and prodded Tina sharply. She chuckled and lifted him to Newt’s shirt pocket to sleep. He looked a little confused at the change in shape of the pocket but curled asleep again pretty quickly. 

She looked up, and Newt was looking at her a little strangely. He blinked several times when he realised she’d caught him. 

“Sorry, but why would Bunty want to be away from me?” He asked hesitantly. 

Tina stared at him in surprise. He must have known. 

“She likes you?” Tina said, and it sounded a bit like a question. Newt continued to stare at her blankly. Oh… Tina rolled her eyes. Newt continued to look confused and now a little offended. “Newt, Bunty really likes you… like…”

She trailed off, looking pointedly at Newt. He continued to look confused. 

“Oh Merlin,” Tina breathed, feeling eighteen levels of awkward. “Maybe you should ask Jacob why Bunty isn’t so happy right now. He can probably explain it to you better…”

Newt started looking worried. 

“Is she ok?” He asked in concern, glancing towards the hippogriff pasture. Tina smiled – even when he didn’t understand people or see a woman with a crush right in front of him, he was the most genuine person she had ever met. 

“She will be,” Tina said gently, standing up and rubbing his arm gently. “I’ll go talk to her.”

“Right,” Newt nodded sharply “And I’ll go find out how my brother is. Er, do you remember the way to the hippogriffs?”

Tina nodded. Newt had shown her round the night before, she just hadn’t wanted Bunty to dislike her any more than she already did by seeming to know her way around the basement area. Newt reached forward, taking Tina’s hand briefly, before they separated and went their different ways. Newt to find out that his assistant had a crush, Tina to have an awkward conversation with said assistant. 

“You’re wearing his shirt,” Bunty said quietly, her voice a bit thick as she sorted feathers in the small hut. Tina hadn’t even raised her fist to knock. 

“I left my suitcase in Paris,” Tina supplied hesitantly, sitting opposite the redhead and twirling a feather between her fingers. “He leant me the shirt because mine got covered in some awful smelling stuff when we were there.”

Bunty nodded sharply, fingers deftly pulling the feathers straight. 

“The creatures really like you,” Bunty’s voice broke a little at the end. “I can never get the niffler to behave.”

“Nor can I,” Tina replied wryly, “He just seems to like me when it suits him.”

“Pickett is in your pocket,” Bunty pointed out, snagging on a feather and twisting it out of shape. 

“Yeah, I probably smell like Newt,” Tina shuffled awkwardly. “Listen, Bunty – Newt… he’s not like other guys. You know that, but it also means he…doesn’t notice. He values you. He trusts you with his creatures. That’s huge for him.” 

“You’re the woman from the newspaper, aren’t you?” Bunty asked, so quiet Tina thought she hadn’t heard her. “I only saw it once… months and months ago, on Newt’s desk… I thought it strange that he’d left it open on the page about an auror and I didn’t think about it again really… but it’s you, isn’t it?”

Tina nodded slowly. Bunty sighed and put the 

“He’s amazing,” She said, with a note of awe in her voice. Tina agreed quietly. Bunty shook herself off and sat up straight, “Well, I have been his friend this past year, and I don’t intend to stop being his friend now,” she glared at Tina in challenge. 

“I’m glad,” Tina sighed in relief, “And I hope we can be friends too…?”

Bunty looked surprised, a faint “oh” sounding.

“I guess Newt won’t change his behaviour around you,” Tina carried on, “And he’ll probably be a bit more awkward for a few days, just so you know…”

“He looks at you like you’re nothing he’s ever seen before,” Bunty smiled sadly, “And he was so pleased that the niffler behaved for you and I just… I didn’t realise. Your Mister Scamander is my friend, and I am happy with that … now.”

“Good,” Tina shuffled upright, suddenly feeling the awkwardness descend over them. “Are you er, coming back?”

“In a little while,” Bunty held up a feather, “I think I should sort a few more of these before I do… you don’t mind?”

“Hey, you’re the one works here,” Tina shrugged, “I can’t tell you what to do here, you know better than me.”

Bunty nodded gratefully, and ducked her head back to her work, leaving Tina the perfect escape route back to a Newt who was moving with the jerky awkward movements Tina associated with being in a crowded room. 

“She’s fine,” Tina informed him, startling him into dropping a vial. Tina waved her wand and the liquid returned to the bottle a little dustier than before. 

“Are you?” Newt mumbled, eyes fixed downwards. 

“Do you ever compare her to magical creatures?” Tina raised an eyebrow wryly. Newt shook his head quickly, “Then I’m being a middle-head.”

She saw his cheeks move, and his chin shuffled up, and she was smiling to his face. It had been an awful few days, but even in the darkest of times, there are good things to find – and she and Newt, in the basement surrounded by creatures, that was one of the good things, one of the memories that she would hang onto in the fight to come.


End file.
